Wardrobe



R. G. ROSS Feb. '7, 1933.

WARDROBE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Nov. 22 1929 Feb. 7, 1933. R. G. Ross 1,896,423

WARDROBE Original Filed'tNov. Y22, 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 7, 1933.

R. G. ROSS WARDROBE original Filed Nov 22, 1929 3 Slleets-SheefI 3 Patented Feb. 7, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ROBERT GALLOWAY Ross, or' CHARLOTTE, y'NORTHv ,(AROLVINAl AssIGNOR To MAE Emisor ORARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA Y L WARDROBE i Application filed November 22, 1923, Serial No. 409,081. Renewed December 15, 1932.

The object of my inventionis to provide a novel wardrobe especially intended for school use, to provide novel means for operating lthe doors of the wardrobe," and tor'provide the novelV construction andarrangement of parts hereinafter described indetail; kand yto provide a novel double door lock,ietc.

I attain these and other Objects of my invention, by the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, .in which,-

Figure 1 is a front elevation of my invention; Y

Fig. 2 is section through the y`wardrobe showing a detailed plan view of the operating mechanism; r

Fig. 3 is a detailed l'view of the chain adjusting mechanism: y 'Y Fig. 4 isa detailed plan view of a safety device which I have invented for use in this wardrobe; Y

Fig. 5 is a. detailed view, partly in section and partly in elevation of one of 'the door stiles;

Fig. 6 is a detailed view through one of the doors, showing the veneer or reinforcing strips used: v Y p Fig. 7 is aV detailed sectional view of a door having a modied type of veneering or panel- 'F ig. 8 is a detailed View, lpartly in section and partly in elevation of a looking device;

Fig. 9 is a Vertical sectional view on line 9 -9ofFig.1;y 7

Fig. 10 is a vertical sectional viewon line 10-10 of Fiat'l:

Fig. 11 is a horizontal sectionalrview on line 11-11 of Fig. 1; and; y

Fig. 12 is a horizontal detailed-sectional view Online 12-12 of Fig. 1. v

Like characters of reference designatel like parts in each of the several views.

Referring to the accompanying drawings,

vI provide a suitable wardrobe framehaving the sides 5 and top 6 with the front frame or casing 7 and an upright casing strip 8 between the two doors 9and'13. The d0ors9 and 13 each have bottom rails 11', top rails 12 and stiles 14, the doors being provided with any suitable artistic trimmingl strips, not numeralized.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, I provide a key shaft 15 which is'directly connected tO,-Or carries, the bottom gear 18, whichy gear in-turn is arranged t0y mesh with gears 19 and 20, Which-gears are mounted on the shafts 25V and 26 respectively. The shaft 25 carries the drum 44 and shaft 26 carries `the drum 45, as shown. Cables 21 vare connected with the drums 44,45 at one end, (the drums being arranged as shown in Fig. 2') and-adjustably connected with the hangers at the other end (as shown in Fig. 3) The cable 22 needs no the slack out ofthe cable, but cable2l may v be adjusted by'means of the bolt 32 and'nut 33 as illustrated in Fig. 3. y

The shaft 25 has its end positioned in alinement with Yaperture 27 in the casing 43, while the key shaft 15 has its key end positioned in alinement with the aperture 28 and lthe.;rod 26fhas its end positioned in. alinement with the aperture 29, as shown in Figg2. Casing 43 is suitably attached to perpendicular studding or frame work 14 as shown in Fig. 2.v `The chains or cables 21 for each of the two doors areV carried over rollers 24 and Vhave Vtheir other ends attached by a bolt 32 and nut 33, as shown in Fig. 3 to the portion 31Ofa v means for adjusting the length of the lchain or cable 21, consisting of a screw-threaded pin 32 which'passes through an apertured portion of the plate 31 and is adjustably held to the plate by a suitable nut 33;

Vadjustment because Vthe Weight 23 pulls all I providenovel means for locking'both doors in closed position to prevent theft of articles from the wardrobe, or to `prevent opening ofthe-wardrobe by childrenduring school sessions or to provide for theconvenient locking a'nd unlocking of the wardrobe doors by the children without the necessity of providing them with keys.

As illustrated in Fig. 8, I provide a drawer 34 in the upright 8 of the wardrobe casing. Above this drawer is a hook or nail36 to which the short chain .37 may be detachably engaged. This chain 37 is secured to the pivotally connected links 38 by the double link 41.` Links 38 are pivotally connected to the link 41 and at their other ends are p-ivotally connected to the bars 39. The bars 39 are slidably mounted in the brackets 40 mounted on suitable studding, and slidable into the slots 42 in the stiles 14 of the wardrobe doors 9, and 13, as shown in Fig. 1. I provide suitable means for holding the links 38 in their elevated and unlocked position with the bars 39 withdrawn from engagement with rails 14 of the wardrobe doors 9 and 13, as shown in Fig. 8. Such means consist preferably of a spring 57 or other suitable means for holding the links 38 in a normally elevated position. Spring 57 has its upper end suitably attached to a hook or the like.

Referring to Fig. 4 there is illustrated a safety device which I prefer to employn in connection with the Wardrobe doors, con- Sisting of the rods 49 pivotally connected to the link 47 which in turn is attached to the pin 48 carried by the chain 22, which passes over the roller 24 as shown in Fig. 1, andk is attached to the counterweights 23, which balances the weight of the wardrobe doors. The rods 49 run through lugs 53 attached to the bottom rail of doors, and are held in place against the board frame by said lugs or staples which function as bearing elements, the rods working freely back and forth through the lugs 53. Two pins 53a pass through said rods near the end at a point on each side ofthe two lower lugs 53 to keep the rods from being pulled out of the lugs by the weight of the door. The counterbalancmg weights attached to chain 22 are always pulling on these. rods 49 to keep them from engaging with slots 54. lVhen the chain breaks or the weight is released spring 51 immediately pulls rods 49 into locking position.V The rods'49 have their ends flattened to better engage the slots 54 of the wardrobe frame, so that should the cable or chain 22 break olf, or the weight become detached from it, the doors could not drop suddenly to cause possible injury, but the free, endsof the rods 49-would engage in the slots 54 as shown 1n `ig. 4 and stop further dropping of the door.

I prefer to provide a suitable expanded spring 51 attached to the end 50 of the pin 48 to pull down the safety mechanism when chain breaks causing it to engage slots 54. Referring to Fig. 5, there is illustrated the detail `of the door stiles, the member 55 being an upright of the door casing. I prefer to provide floating rollers 16 which are mounted on the bearing 56. This bearing 56 is a floating bearing which has a resilient movement relative to the door stile 14 by means of the springs 57 .y Any swelling of the door is taken care ofby the springs 57 which allow for a suitable automatic adjustment of the bearing 56 androllers 16 which it carries. The'rollers 16 make easy operation of the doors'possible without the possia bility of their sticking from any cause. Referring to Figs. 6 and 7, there is illustrated two different types of door panels which I may employ. n the form of the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 6, I provide a center wood panel strip 60- on either side of which I vprovide the outer strips. or sheets of a suitable composition panel 59, or other suitable material. The stiles 14 are entiref ly of hardwood and are fastened to the outer hardwood strip's14 which extend entirely around the door and slide within the wardrobe casing members 5. The wood strip 14 is suitably alliXed to the stile 14 of the wardrobe door by suitable means, such as the screws 58. 4 This hardwoodsstrip 14, can be attached to stiles and rails after any warping has taken place, and when on the Stiles will be straight 95.

and true and permit of perfect operation of the door and in connection with the floating roller 16 will permit of easy operation of the door, regardless of warping. This strip on the bottom of the door will close the crack 10.0 or opening when the door is raised to its full height, making a neat finished appearance to the wardrobe. This strip may be eliminated on top of the doors. Leather or other flexible material may be substituted.

In the form of my invention illustrated in Fig. 7, I provide an inner strip 63 of'felt ad.]acent the three-ply wood panel 6l over which is positioned the ber board panel 62, while on the other side of the door, I may provide a sheet of natural slate or rigid compo blackboard. The soft felt material 63 prevents strain or breakage of the blackboard or slate sheet'64 in case of warping or shock.

At the bottom, the blackboard or slate -panel 115 64- wouldrest on a strip of rubber mounted on a rail of the door, not shown.l

The operation ofthe invention has been indicated in connection vwith the description of the construction and parts as hereinbefore 12o set out. The doors of the wardrobe are vertically slidable as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.V The weight of the doors is counterbalanced by the weight 23 which is attached-to a suitable chain or cable 22 which 125 in turn is kconnected to a suitable hanger, preferably a safety hanger attached'tothe door, as lillustrated in Fig. 4, whereby if the cable or 'weightshould break, the-rods of the hanger by reason of spring 51, will engage in the 1`3`0 slots 54 and prevent the door from dropping suddenly to cause injury.

The doors are raised by the operation of a conventional crank (not shown), which is detachably connected with the key shaft 15 to operate the under gear 18, which in turn actuates the gears 19 and 20 operating the drums 44 and 45, respectively, which are mounted on the same shafts with these gears. Attached to the drums are suitable linear elements, namely the cables or chains 21 which run over the rollers 24, the ends of said cables or chains being attached to a suitable hanger which in turn is affixed to the bottom of the wardrobe doors.

The operation of the crank (not shown) which is detachably engaged to the shaft 15 operates the gear 18 and meshing` gears 19 and 20 to turn the drums 44 and 45 and thus operate the linear elements, namely the chains or cables 21 to simultaneously (or selectively) raise and lower the doors 9 and 13. The selection of which door .is to be operated is accomplished by shifting one` of the gears 19 or 20 out of engagement with the gear 18 said gears being normally held in proper engagement therewith by, the spring 46. This shifting of the gears for selection of operation of the doors is done by pushing inward the shaft on which the particular gear is mounted which it is desired to throw out of mesh with the gear 18. The other gear and drum mounted on the same shaft would then be operated alone to raise the wardrobe door on that side of the wardrobe.

The shafts 25 and 26 are slidably mounted as illustrated in Fig. 2, said shafts carrying drums 44 and 45 and gears 19 and 20, respectively. Said shafts also are operatively connected with the springs 46, which springs normally hold them in engagement with the gear 18, which gear is on the shaft operated by the crank used to raise and lower the doors as illustrated in Fig. 2.

To facilitate operation of the doors and to allon7 for warping or for variation in size of the doors due to temperature changes the floating rollers 16 are provided, mounted on the lower and upper portions of the edges of the doors and rollably engaging the uprights 55 of the wardrobe frame. The springs 57 permit of a resilient movement of the rollers, thus making the door automatically adjustable. This construction not only takes care of temperature changes but warping of the door due to dampness or otherwise.

I prefer to provide a novel locking mechanism for simultaneously locking both doors as illustrated in detail in Fig. 8 and diagrammatically in Fig. 1, consisting of the slidable locking bars 39 which are normally held out of locking engagement with the correspondingly shaped apertures in the rails of the respective wardrobe doors but which may be operated -into engagement with 'said doors to lock them in a closed position. .These slidable locking kbars `are operatively connected by pivotallyconnected links .to which a chain is connected'and whichchainmayfbedetachably secured to a hook or the likey fastened f to theinsidecasing just above the drawer 34 to hold the locking bars in locked* position or to permit of their being withdrawnfrom locked positionVV and yheld inra normally re-A tion also provides a means, if desired, for the locking of the wardrobe by an oiicial of the school by concealedmechanism to prevent unauthorized removal of articles of clothing from the wardrobe during school sessions.

The guard strips 14 aiiixed to the rails and stiles of the door function to improve the operation of the door and to give it a more Vfinished Aappearance when in open or closed position. I also may Vprovide panels comprising layers of different materials as heretofore described to permit the use of the doors for bulletin boards if desired and to providemeans for preventing breakage of frangible material used in constructing these bulletin boards.

What I claim is: Y v

1. In a wardrobe, the combination of al Wardrobe frame, Va plurality of vertically slidable doors mounted in said frame, al

hanger afiiXed to the 'bottom of each of the doors, Weights for counter-balancing the doors, linear elements connecting the aforesaid weights with the aforesaid hangers onV the doors, linear elements connected with the hangers, drums with which the last mentioned linear elements are connected and manually operable means connecting with the aforesaid drums for simultaneously raising and lowering both of the doors. y

2. In a wardrobe, .the combination of a wardrobe frame, a plurality of vertically slidable doors mounted in said frame, la hanger aiiiXed to the bottom of each of the doors, weights for counter-balancing the doors, linear elements connecting the aforesaid weights with the hangers on the aforesaid doors, al second set of linear elements connected with the hangers affixed to the bottom of thel doors, drums with which the other ends of saidlinear elements are connected, manually operated means connected with said drums for simultaneously raising and lowering both of the doors, and means for permitkdoors independently of the other.

3. In a wardrobe, the combination of ra wardrobe frame, doors slidably,mounted in said wardrobe frame2 manual operablemeans orpsimultaneosly or independently raising and lowering the doors, counter-Weights operatively connected with `the doors to counterbalance same, linear elements connecting the aforesaid. Weights With'the doors, a safety device operatively connected with the aforesaid means for raising and lowering the doors and to whicha counter-Weight is attached, said safety device comprising pivoted, diagon'ally dependingarms, the frame of the door having oppositely spaced notches With which the arms of the safety device are adapted t0 operatively engage inthe event of breaking of the linear element' or of the Weight becoming disconnected from same.

ROBERT GALLOVVAY ROSS. 

